Patient monitoring device with remote alert

ABSTRACT

A remote patient monitoring system having a main patient monitor and a remote patient monitor. The main patient monitor is configured to receive and collect one or more patient physiological parameters and to provide an alarm in response to an alarm trigger. The alarm trigger includes a determination that at least one of the collected patient physiological parameters has reached a predetermined value. The remote patient monitor has an alarm reset and is configured to be carried by a caregiver. It is also configured to receive a signal from the main patient monitor in response to the alarm and to transmit an indication about the alarm trigger. The indication includes one or more of a notification that the patient is being attended to, a request by the caregiver for additional help, or a message about resolution of the alarm trigger.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of application Ser. No.14/035,903 filed Sep. 24, 2013, which claims the benefit of provisionalApplication No. 61/704,710 filed Sep. 24, 2012. Each of thoseapplications is incorporated in this patent application by thisreference.

BACKGROUND

In typical medical care situations, monitors are connected to devicesthat receive physiological data from patients. Such devices may bepassive monitoring devices or active delivery devices. Active deliverydevices, for example, may provide stimulus (e.g., cardiopulmonaryresuscitation (CPR) machines), drugs, and/or oxygen.

In such situations, the monitors of such devices provide criticalpatient information to the caregivers, such as health care providers ormedical professionals (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, emergency medicaltechnicians, etc.). In many cases, the monitors are connected to thedevices as an integrated package. Oftentimes, the monitors are notreadily visible to the caregivers, particularly if the caregivers areaway from the patient and the devices.

Although caregivers are away from the monitors and devices, the need tobe aware of a patient's condition(s) continues. In certain cases, amedical professional may not be able to view a monitor and be aware ofthe patient's condition(s). Examples of such situations, includeinstances when the caregiver has to walk away to check on anotherpatient or attend to another task. In certain cases, a caregiver isphysically unable to view a monitor. An example includes a medicalevacuation situation in a helicopter when a technician and patient arephysically situated such that the technician is unable to view themonitor of the device. Furthermore, in such medical evacuationsituations, the environment may not be ideal (e.g., noisy, dimly lit,etc.) to properly view the monitor.

In certain situations, a monitor not only provides status ofphysiological data and of the connected device, but may also providealerts as to critical levels of a patient. For example, a blood pressuredevice may alert the medical professional as to a critically low bloodpressure level and/or irregular heartbeat. In the case of an oxygensensing device, a monitor may alert the professional as to low levels ofoxygen to the patient. Such alerts may be triggered byabnormalities/conditions experienced by the patient and/orproblems/malfunctions of the device.

If a caregiver is away from a monitor, the patient's care may becompromised because the caregiver cannot properly view the condition ofthe patient or be aware of alerts provided by the device through themonitor.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present description gives instances of medical technology thatfacilitates the remote monitoring of patients.

In one embodiment, a medical device facilitates monitoring of a patient.The medical system includes a main patient monitor collecting patientphysiological parameter data, and also capable of transmitting thecollected patient physiological parameter data. The main patient monitoralarms if the collected data is determined to reach a predeterminedvalue. The device further includes a remote patient monitor, alsoreferred to as a remote patient monitoring device, in the form of awrist band, worn by a caregiver, configured to receive the collectedpatient physiological parameter data, display the collected patientphysiological parameter data received from the main patient monitor, andreceive a signal in response to an alarm(s) from the main patientmonitor.

In one embodiment, the remote patient monitor can be a bracelet, a wristor arm band, or other type of a small, compact, or wearable device. Theremote patient monitor interfaces with the main patient monitor, adefibrillator, and/or other medical device or system. Alternatively, theremote patient monitor operates as a stand-alone, such as a puck or isincorporated into another device, such as a cell phone, a watch, bagvalve mask, defibrillation electrodes, etc. The remote patient monitorallows a wearer of the device to monitor a patient through pre-setalarms, which can manifest as one or a combination of visual, tactile,auditory types of notifications, which may vary in intensity andduration depending on the preset parameters.

In some embodiments, the remote patient monitor includes a sensoryfeedback, such as haptic feedback, guiding a rescuer, dictating the ratevia metronome, and/or notifying of elapsed time in CardiopulmonaryResuscitation (CPR). The remote patient monitor further may includehaptic feedback mechanism in bag valve mask (BVM). The remote patientmonitor is, in one example, configured to differentiate haptic sensationto the wearer/rescuer to signify that a two-minute cycle has elapsed,and further to detect ventricular fibrillation (VF) or shockable rhythm,ST-elevation, ROSC (Return of Spontaneous Circulation), apnea,desaturation, etc. These and other features and advantages of thisdescription will become more readily apparent from the followingDetailed Description, which proceeds with reference to the drawings, inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a remote patient monitoring system used toremotely provide physiological data and alerts of a patient according toone or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a sample of a remote patient monitoring systemused to remotely provide physiological data and alerts of a patientaccording to one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of sample physiological data and alerts that areremotely provided according to one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating methods to remotely providephysiological data and alerts of a patient according to one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 is another flowchart for illustrating methods to remotely providephysiological data and alerts of a patient according to one or moreembodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As has been mentioned, the present description pertains to remotepatient monitoring technology. Embodiments are now described in moredetail.

Patient Monitoring System

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a remote patient monitoring system 100 accordingto the technology described herein. A patient 102 may be in particularlocation 104. A patient may be, by way of example, a hospital patient inbed in a particular unit with more less stationary devices and monitorsaround his/her bed or may be an ambulatory or outside-a-hospital patientaccessorized with devices such as implantable devices or monitoring andtherapy devices attached to the patient. In certain instances, acaregiver (not shown) may be in a different location. Various medicalprobes and/or delivery devices 106 are connected to the patient 102. Amain patient monitor 108 is connected to medical probes and/or deliverydevices 106. The medical probes and/or delivery devices 106 may activelyprovide medicine, oxygen and/or liquids to the patient 102. In someembodiments, the medical probes and/or delivery devices 106 monitorand/or track physiological parameter data. The physiological parameterdata may include one or more vital signs. For example, physiologicalparameter data may include heart rate, blood pressure, oxygensaturation, end-tidal CO2, respiration rate level of the monitoredpatient 102.

The main patient monitor 108 may be configured to collect patientphysiological parameter data, to transmit the collected patientphysiological parameter data, and to alarm if the collected data isdetermined to reach a predetermined value. Other alarms may be provided,such as condition states of the main patient monitor 108 and/or devicesconnected to the patient of the main patient monitor 108. Examples ofcondition states include low power/battery of the patient monitor 108and/or devices, transmission connectivity to the remote patient monitor110 and other networks, etc.

The main patient monitor 108 may be connected to a remote patientmonitor 110. The connection between the main patient monitor 108 and theremote patient monitor 110 may be a wired or wireless connection asrepresented by connection 112. In other words, the main patient monitor108 and the remote patient monitor 110 may be wired or wirelesslycoupled to one another.

In certain embodiments, the main patient monitor 108 and remote patientmonitor 110 may be connected intermediately through a network, such as acloud based network. In other words, the connection 112 may go throughor be part of a network or networks, which may include cloud basednetwork(s). In certain embodiments, cloud based network(s) may performmonitoring based on information received from the main patient monitor108.

The remote patient monitor 110 may be configured as or be part of a cellphone, puck, or arm or wrist band 114, that may be worn or carried by acaregiver, for example on a caregiver's wrist 116. In anotherembodiment, the band 114 may be a in a form of a necklace, arm band, orwaist band, or other wearable device. Other embodiments are possible.Caregivers may include laypeople such as family members, and/or trainedmedical professionals such as medical doctors, medical directors,nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and the like. Therefore,in some embodiments, the remote patient monitor 110 may be in the formof a band, such as a wrist band 114 and configured to be worn by acaregiver, to receive the collected patient physiological parameterdata. The remote patient monitor 110 further may display the collectedpatient physiological parameter data received from the main patientmonitor 108, and to receive a signal in response to an alarm from themain patient monitor 108.

In some embodiments, the band 114 may be adjustable and may include abuckle 118 and holes to attach the buckle 118 to adjust to accommodatefor various sized wrists, waists, etc. A slider 122 may be used tosecure to excess length of the band 114. In addition to beingadjustable, the band 114 may also be waterproof and/or shock-resistant.In certain embodiments, the band 114 may be in the form of or attachedto a necklace or lanyard around the caregiver's neck. In otherembodiments the band 114 may be in the form of or attached to a beltaround the caregiver's waist. Other embodiments may provide for theremote patient monitor 110 to be clipped onto the caregiver's clothing,such as on a lapel or chest pocket. Other embodiments may provide forthe remote patient monitor 110 to be implemented as a wearable device.

The remote patient monitor 110 may include an alarm reset button 124 toreset any alarms received from the main patient monitor 108. In certainembodiments, the alarm(s) that is(are) received by the remote patientmonitor 110 include one or more of vibrate (e.g., tactile/haptic alarm),light up, and/or an audible noise. In particular embodiments, the remotepatient monitor 110 only vibrates as determined by the main patientmonitor 108.

In certain embodiments, the remote patient monitor 110 receiveshaptic/sensory feedback for patient monitoring that may include a guiderate for chest compression, such as used in CPR. In such animplementation, a patient may have a physiologic monitoring sensor,which is not necessarily “wearable”, but merely attached to the patient.The patient sensor provides data to the remote patient monitor 110. Theremote patient monitor 110 may include a haptic motor that conveysinformation to the caregiver in the form of “mimicked” sensory feedbackfrom the patient. In yet certain other embodiments, monitoring datatransmitted to the remote patient monitor 110 may be include informationabout ventilation (e.g. rate, tidal volume, airway pressure) beingprovided to the patient. The patient sensors may be incorporated as awearable device (e.g., wrist band, head band, bracelet, etc.),standalone sensor, or incorporated into another device (e.g. bag valvemask).

In certain embodiments, the patient may be provided with disposablecomponents such as a sticker with a wireless identifier (i.e., an RFIDchip) to initiate or inform as to a haptic component/feedback. Differentvariations of such disposable components may make use of color codedstickers with RFID used to set various rates (e.g., 100/min for chestcompression and 8/min for ventilation). Other colors may be used forvarious rate guidance purposes. Disposable component/sticker or RFIDsmay be used to start or stop a patient/caregiver haptic motor whenpatient/caregiver is in proximity of the RFID. In certainimplementation, a disposable component/sticker may be incorporated intoa device, such as a defibrillator.

Other haptic signals may include use of different frequencies, dutycycles, sensations (vibration, taps, squeeze, etc.) to communicatedifferent information. Physiological feedback could provide input signalto vibration intensity, rate, sensation, etc. The remote patient monitor110 and particularly a wearable portion may incorporate a display, suchthat a haptic signal would alert the caregiver and the display wouldprovide detailed information about the alert.

In certain embodiments, depending on the level of a caregiver'sexpertise, the alarm(s) that is(are) received by the remote patientmonitor 110 may be activated based on specific preset threshold values.The alarms may include a general overall urgency alarm, and/or specificalarms. Variety of settings may be determined depending on the patient'scondition, parameters, status and combined with the caregiver's rank,skills, expertise, and preferences. An alarm may be initiated at theremote patient monitor 110 to indicate an urgent need to respond to thepatient, such as a cardiac arrest, an oxygen desaturation, etc. In suchcases, a general urgency alarm may be activated, and/or specific alarmsindicating specific medical conditions may be activated. Specific alarmsmay further be selected by a user/caregiver to differentiate betweensounds, vibration patterns, and intensity depending on the patientidentification, location, and other parameters. If several caregiversreceive alarms pertaining to the same patient, and one of the alertedcaregivers responds, other caregivers may be notified that the patientis being attended to. If the attending to the patient caregiver stillneeds additional help, the caregiver may be able to send another alarmto solicit further help. Alternatively, upon arrival at the patient'sside or resolution as to the patient needs, one caregiver may terminatealarms sent to others and may further be able to follow up with amessage as to the resolution of the issue.

Alarms may be sent by signals from the main patient monitor 108 to theremote patient monitor 110. After a period of time the signals may bedegraded. Therefore, in certain embodiments a decoupling or adisconnection may occur between the main patient monitor 108 and theremote patient monitor 110 after a determined time period after asignal(s) is degraded. In certain instances, it may be desirable for acaregiver to reset the alarm(s) of the remote patient monitor 110. Analarm reset button 124 is provided by the remote patient monitor 110 toallow resetting of the alarm(s).

The patient monitor 110, or a wearable portion of the patient monitor110, may include a start/stop haptic feedback metronome which mayinclude different pre-selected metronome rates such as ventilation(e.g., 8/min), compression (e.g., 100/min), etc.

In certain embodiments, the remote patient monitor 110 may be coupled tomore than one main patient monitors, including the main patient monitor108 that is shown. In such embodiments, the remote patient monitor 110is configured to receive various patient physiological parameter dataand alarms from different medical devices and/or patients.

In certain embodiments, there may be more than one patient. Therefore,the remote patient monitor 110 may be coupled to more than one mainpatient monitors and/or one or more patients.

The patient monitoring system 100 may be part of different health careenvironments. In certain embodiments, the patient monitoring system 100may be part of a hospital environment that includes nursing stations. Anursing station may include multiple patient monitors, such as mainpatient monitor 108.

Caregivers, such as medical doctors, nurses, etc., are able tosimultaneously monitor patients from a central station at the nursingstation. However, in certain situations the caregiver may be away fromthe central stations and the monitors, but would still need to be awareof the patients. In such cases, the remote patient monitor 110 may beconfigured to provide alarms to let the caregiver know the status of thepatients and/or determine which patient(s) need to be attended to. Incertain embodiments, the remote patient monitor 110 may provide apatient's name, room number (location) and/or other specific patientinformation. In certain embodiments, either through preset thresholdsthat are set at particular main patient monitor(s) 108, patients may belisted in order of need for medical attention or listed some otherorder, such as first request. In a further embodiment, the remotepatient monitor is configured to monitor more than one patientsimultaneously. If one caregiver is monitoring more than one patient,the remote patient monitor 110 can provide ranking of urgency betweenpatients, depending on a patient's symptoms.

In certain embodiments, there may be multiple caregivers connected tothe patient monitoring system 100. Provision may be made to allow acaregiver that is the first responder to the patient, to notify othercaregivers that the first responding caregiver has reached the patient.Provision may also be provided to allow the first responding caregiverto request for additional help if needed. This may be performed throughthe remote patient monitor that is worn by the first respondingcaregiver.

In certain embodiments, the main patient monitor 108 may be configuredwith a cellular, global positioning system (GPS), or other tracking unit(not shown). The tracking unit may provide specific location of thepatient (i.e., patient location 104). This may assist in identifyingspecific location of an ambulatory patient, to the remote patientmonitor 110. The foregoing indications and responses described inconjunction with FIG. 1 can be implemented in various combinations inother embodiments, with each indication and/or response providing itsadvantages even if combined with other indication(s) and/or response(s).

Example Patient Monitoring System Components

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a sample structure of a remote patient monitoringsystem 100 used to remotely provide physiological data and alerts of apatient according to the technology described herein. In the illustratedembodiment, one or more main patient monitors 108 are wire or wirelesslycoupled to a remote patient monitor 110 by wire and/or wirelessconnections 112.

In this embodiment, a main patient monitor 108-1 is shown to include apatient data collection module 200 which communicates with and receivespatient physiological data from one or more medical devices and/orprobes, such as medical probes and/or delivery devices 106 describedabove. In particular, the patient data collection module 200 gatherspatient physiological parameter data, which may include one or morevital signs of a monitored patient (e.g., patient 102). As an example,the patient physiological parameter data may particularly include one ormore of the following: blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate,pulse rate, oxygen saturation, air flow, temperature, ECG parameters,and/or other parameters. Device data, such as low battery on one of thedevices/probes interfacing/interacting with the patient or the band'sinability to access information, or other parameters/data, can also beincluded. Other example data that may be sent can include 1) physiologicdata, such as vital signs data, and/or alarm info on vital signsexcursions out of normal/stable ranges; 2) monitoring device data,battery status, sensor status, etc. (i.e., information meriting theattention or intervention of a caregiver); and 3) Medicalcare/intervention data, i.e., information about the presence or qualityof the care being applied to the patient by someone other than theperson wearing the remote patient monitor, for example, alert the personmanaging a resuscitation (and e.g. wearing a haptic wristband) that theperson managing the airway is ventilating too fast, or the person doingchest compressions has paused for too long.

The main patient monitor 108-1 may include a patient data evaluationmodule 202 which is configured with values for patient physiologicalparameter data. Such values may be preset by a caregiver to trigger analarm. For example, if a particular value reaches or exceeds aparticular level or levels, the alarm or alarms may be triggered. Inthis example, an alarm module 204 may be configured to provide suchalert(s) in response to reaching a predetermined value(s) for thepatient physiological parameter data. Alarms or alerts may initiate oneor more actions such as vibration, light up, or a noise/audible sound.Such alarms or alerts may be communicated to the remote patient monitor110.

The main patient monitor 108-1 may include a display module 206 todisplay the patient physiological parameter data and/or alarms. Atransmitting module 208 provides signals (e.g., one or more alarmsignals) to the remote patient monitor 110. The signals to the remotepatient monitor 110 may include the one or more actions such asvibration, light up, or a noise/audible/haptic sound/response. Incertain embodiments, the transmitting module 208 is a wireless modulethat may implement one or more various wireless technologies, includingbut not limited to Bluetooth® one or more the various IEEE 802.11standards, etc.

The main patient monitor 108-1 includes one or more processors 210couple with the other components of the main patient monitor 108-1.Volatile and nonvolatile memory 212 is included in main patient monitor108-1. Memory 212 may include computer-readable storage medium thatincludes instructions to perform the acts/methods described herein.

The remote patient monitor 110 is wired or wireless coupled to the mainpatient monitors 108 by respective links or connections 112. The remotepatient monitor 110 includes a receiving module 214. In certainembodiments the receiving module 214 is a wireless receiving module,which may implement one or more various wireless technologies, includingbut not limited to Bluetooth®, one or more the various IEEE 802.11standards, etc. The receiving module 214 receives one more alerts, whichmay be in the form of one more transmitted signals from the main patientmonitors 108. The received signals from main patient monitors 108 mayinclude the one or more actions such as vibration, light up, or anoise/audible sound.

The remote patient monitor 110 may include display module 216 maydisplay the patient physiological parameter data and/or alarms (alerts).The display module 216 may light up with a particular alert or alerts.The remote patient monitor 110 may include a separate alert module 218.A function the alert module may perform is to vibrate when a particularalert or alerts is/are received from the main patient monitors 108. Analarm reset module 220, which may be reset by alarm reset button 124described above, may be implemented by the remote patient monitor 110 toreset one or more alerts and alarms that are activated/displayed.

The remote patient monitor 110 includes one or more processors 222coupled with the other components of the remote patient monitor 110.Volatile and nonvolatile memory 224 is included in remote patientmonitor 110. Memory 224 may include computer-readable storage mediumthat includes instructions to perform the acts/methods described herein.In certain embodiments, and particular where the remote patient monitor110 is a portable unit, a long lasting battery(ies) 226 may be part ofthe remote patient monitor 110.

The foregoing indications and responses described in conjunction withFIG. 2 can be implemented in various combinations in other embodiments,with each indication and/or response providing its advantages even ifcombined with other indication(s) and/or response(s).

Example Physiological Data and Alerts

FIG. 3 is a diagram of sample physiological data and alerts that areremotely provided according to the technology described herein. The mainpatient monitor 108 may provide alarms/alerts of collected physiologicaldata to the remote patient monitor 110. The physiological data may befor patient physiological parameter data. As described above, suchpatient physiological parameter data may have values that preset by acaregiver to trigger an alarm. For example, if a particular valuereaches or exceeds a particular level or levels, the alarm or alarms maybe triggered.

Shown in FIG. 3 are monitored physiological data 300 that includescurrent patient monitored values. In this example, pulse oxygen,temperature, blood pressure and heart rate values are monitored anddisplayed. Such values are communicated to the remote patient monitor110 are displayed as patient physiological data 302. The displayedvalues shown in remote patient monitor 110 are a compact or condensedversion displayed by the main patient monitor 108.

The functions of this description may be implemented by one or moredevices that include logic circuitry. The device performs functionsand/or methods as are described in this document. The logic circuitrymay include a processor that may be programmable for a general purpose,or dedicated, such as microcontroller, a microprocessor, a DigitalSignal Processor (DSP), etc. For example, the device may be a digitalcomputer like device, such as a general-purpose computer selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.Alternately, the device may be implemented by an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.

Moreover, methods are described below. The methods and algorithmspresented herein are not necessarily inherently associated with anyparticular computer or other apparatus. Rather, various general-purposemachines may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove more convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these machines will become apparent from thisdescription.

In all cases there should be borne in mind the distinction betweenmethods in this description, and the method of operating a computingmachine. This description relates both to methods in general, and alsoto steps for operating a computer and for processing electrical or otherphysical signals to generate other desired physical signals.

Programs are additionally included in this description, as are methodsof operation of the programs. A program is generally defined as a groupof steps leading to a desired result, due to their nature and theirsequence. A program is usually advantageously implemented as a programfor a computing machine, such as a general-purpose computer, a specialpurpose computer, a microprocessor, etc.

Storage media are additionally included in this description. Such media,individually or in combination with others, have stored thereoninstructions of a program made according to the technology describedherein. A storage medium according to the technology described herein isa computer-readable medium, such as a memory, and is read by thecomputing machine mentioned above.

Performing the steps or instructions of a program requires physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities may be transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated or processed according to the instructions, and they mayalso be stored in a computer-readable medium. These quantities include,for example electrical, magnetic, and electromagnetic signals, and alsostates of matter that can be queried by such signals. It is convenientat times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to thesequantities as bits, data bits, samples, values, symbols, characters,images, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind,however, that all of these and similar terms are associated with theappropriate physical quantities, and that these terms are merelyconvenient labels applied to these physical quantities, individually orin groups.

This detailed description is presented largely in terms of flowcharts,display images, algorithms, and symbolic representations of operationsof data bits within at least one computer readable medium, such as amemory. Indeed, such descriptions and representations are the type ofconvenient labels used by those skilled in programming and/or the dataprocessing arts to effectively convey the substance of their work toothers skilled in the art. A person skilled in the art of programmingmay use these descriptions to readily generate specific instructions forimplementing a program according to the technology described herein.

Often, for the sake of convenience only, it is preferred to implementand describe a program as various interconnected distinct softwaremodules or features, individually and collectively also known assoftware. This is not necessary, however, and there may be cases wheremodules are equivalently aggregated into a single program with unclearboundaries. In any event, the software modules or features of thisdescription may be implemented by themselves, or in combination withothers. Even though it is said that the program may be stored in acomputer-readable medium, it should be clear to a person skilled in theart that it need not be a single memory, or even a single machine.Various portions, modules or features of it may reside in separatememories, or even separate machines. The separate machines may beconnected directly, or through a network, such as a local access network(LAN), or a global network, such as the Internet.

It will be appreciated that some of these methods may include softwaresteps that may be performed by different modules of an overall softwarearchitecture. For example, data forwarding in a router may be performedin a data plane, which consults a local routing table. Collection ofperformance data may also be performed in a data plane. The performancedata may be processed in a control plane, which accordingly may updatethe local routing table, in addition to neighboring ones. A personskilled in the art will discern which step is best performed in whichplane.

An economy is achieved in the present document in that flowcharts areused to describe both programs, and also methods. So, while flowchartsare described in terms of boxes, they can mean both method and programs.

For this description, the methods may be implemented by machineoperations. In other words, embodiments of programs are made such thatthey perform methods in accordance to embodiments of the technology thatare described in this document. These may be optionally performed inconjunction with one or more human operators performing some, but notall of them. As per the above, the users need not be collocated witheach other, but each only with a machine that houses a portion of theprogram. Alternately, some of these machines may operate automatically,without users and/or independently from each other.

Example Methods

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 400 for describing methods according to thetechnology described herein, for a patient monitoring system to remotelyprovide physiological data and alerts of a patient. The method offlowchart 400 may also be practiced by patient monitoring systems madeaccording to the technology described herein described above.

According to an operation 402, a main patient monitor obtains patient'sphysiological data.

According to an operation 404, the main patient monitor transmits theobtained patient physiological data to a remote patient monitor, whichmay be part of or integrated as a wrist band, and the evaluates obtainedpatient physiological data.

According to an operation 406, a decision is made whether a thresholdvalue is reached. If the threshold value is not reached, following the“NO” branch of operation 406, operation 402 is performed.

According to an operation 408, if the threshold value is reached asdetermined by operation 406, then following the “YES” branch ofoperation 406, the main patient monitor triggers or performs an alarm oralarms.

According to an operation 410, the main patient monitor transmits thealarm or alarms to the remote patient monitor.

According to an operation 412, the remote patient monitor vibrates,alerting a caregiver.

According to an operation 412, an alarm reset button on the remotepatient monitor may be activated by the caregiver to silence the alarmor alarms.

For flowchart 400, it will be recognized that a number of theiroperations can be augmented with what was described above.

FIG. 5 is another flowchart 500 for describing methods according to thetechnology described herein, for a patient monitoring system to remotelyprovide physiological data and alerts of a patient. The method offlowchart 500 may also be practiced by patient monitoring systems madeaccording to the technology described herein described above.

An operation 502 obtains patient physiological data at a remote patientmonitor. The remote patient monitor may be part of or integrated as awrist band.

An operation 502 displays the patient physiological data at the remotepatient monitor.

An operation 506 determines if the remote patient monitor is vibrating.If the remote patient monitor is not vibrating, then following the “NO”branch of operation 506, operation 502 is performed.

According to an operation 508, if the remote patient monitor isvibrating as determined by operation 506, then following the “YES”branch of operation 506, the alarm or alarms on the remote patientmonitor may be reset.

For flowchart 500, it will be recognized that a number of theiroperations can be augmented with what was described above.

Notes and Additional/Alternative Implementation Details

In the above description of exemplary implementations, for purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials configurations, and otherdetails are set forth in order to better explain the present invention,as claimed. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe claimed invention may be practiced using different details than theexemplary ones described herein. In other instances, well-known featuresare omitted or simplified to clarify the description of the exemplaryimplementations.

The inventor intends the described exemplary implementations to beprimarily examples. The inventor does not intend these exemplaryimplementations to limit the scope of the appended claims. Rather, theinventor has contemplated that the claimed invention might also beembodied and implemented in other ways, in conjunction with otherpresent or future technologies.

Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as exemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the word“exemplary” is intended to present concepts and techniques in a concretefashion. The term “technology,” for instance, may refer to one or moredevices, apparatuses, systems, methods, articles of manufacture, and/orcomputer-readable instructions as indicated by the context describedherein.

As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean aninclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to meanany of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” issatisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, thearticles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more,” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform.

Note that the order in which the processes are described is not intendedto be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described processblocks can be combined in any order to implement the processes or analternate process. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted fromthe processes without departing from the spirit and scope of the subjectmatter described herein.

One or more embodiments described herein may be implemented fully orpartially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware maytake the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be readand executed by one or more processors to enable performance of theoperations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitableform, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpretedcode, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such acomputer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory mediumfor storing information in a form readable by one or more computers,such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory(RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flashmemory, etc.

The term “computer-readable media” includes computer-storage media. Forexample, computer-storage media may include, but are not limited to,magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, and magneticstrips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk [CD] and digital versatiledisk [DVD]), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., thumb drive,stick, key drive, and SD cards), and volatile and nonvolatile memory(e.g., RAM and ROM).

In the claims appended herein, the inventor invokes 35 U.S.C. §112,paragraph 6 only when the words “means for” or “steps for” are used inthe claim. If such words are not used in a claim, then the inventor doesnot intend for the claim to be construed to cover the correspondingstructure, material, or acts described herein (and equivalents thereof)in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6.

1. A patient monitoring system, comprising: a main patient monitorconfigured to receive and collect one or more patient physiologicalparameters of a patient, and to provide an alarm in response, at leastin part, to an alarm trigger, the alarm trigger including adetermination that at least one of the collected patient physiologicalparameters has reached a predetermined value; and a remote patientmonitor having an alarm reset configured to terminate the alarm, theremote patient monitor being configured to be carried by a caregiver,and further configured to receive a signal from the main patient monitorin response to the alarm and to transmit an indication about the alarmtrigger, the indication comprising one or more of a notification thatthe patient is being attended to, a request by the caregiver foradditional help, or a message about resolution of the alarm trigger. 2.The patient monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the main patientmonitor is further configured to transmit at least one of: the collectedpatient physiological parameter data, patient identification, locationidentification, device data concerning the remote patient monitor,device data concerning one or more medical probes or delivery devicesconnected to the main patient monitor, and caregiver messages.
 3. Thepatient monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the remote patient monitoris further configured to display at least one of: the collected patientphysiological parameter received from the main patient monitor, patientidentification, location identification, device data concerning theremote patient monitor, device data concerning one or more medicalprobes or delivery devices connected to the main patient monitor, andcaregiver messages.
 4. The patient monitoring system of claim 1, whereinpatient physiological parameter data includes at least one of: a heartrate, a blood pressure, an oxygen saturation, an end-tidal CO2, or arespiration rate.
 5. The patient monitoring system of claim 1, whereinthe main patient monitor and remote patient monitor are coupledwirelessly through one or more networks.
 6. The patient monitoringsystem of claim 1, wherein the remote patient monitor is furtherconfigured to, in response to the signal from the main patient monitor,commence an action selected from a group consisting of vibration output,visual output, and auditory output.
 7. The patient monitoring system ofclaim 6, wherein the remote monitor is configured to vary an intensityof the commenced action, the intensity of the commenced action beingindicative of a risk to the patient.
 8. The patient monitoring system ofclaim 1, wherein the main patient monitor is a plurality of differentmain patient monitors, and wherein each main patient monitor of theplurality of different main patient monitors is configured to monitor anindividual patient and provide alarm signals to one or more of theremote patient monitors.
 9. A patient monitoring system, comprising: amain patient monitor configured to receive and collect one or morepatient physiological parameters of a patient, and to provide an alarmin response, at least in part, to an alarm trigger, the alarm triggerincluding a determination that at least one of the collected patientphysiological parameters has reached a predetermined value; and a remotepatient monitor having an alarm reset configured to terminate the alarm,the remote patient monitor being configured to be carried by acaregiver, and further configured to receive a signal from the mainpatient monitor in response to the alarm and to transmit an indicationabout the alarm trigger, the indication comprising a notification thatthe patient is being attended to.
 10. The patient monitoring system ofclaim 9, wherein the remote patient monitor is further configured to, inresponse to the signal from the main patient monitor, commence an actionselected from a group consisting of vibration output, visual output, andauditory output.
 11. The patient monitoring system of claim 10, whereinthe remote monitor is configured to vary an intensity of the commencedaction, the intensity of the commenced action being indicative of a riskto the patient.
 12. The patient monitoring system of claim 9, whereinthe main patient monitor is a plurality of different main patientmonitors, and wherein each main patient monitor of the plurality ofdifferent main patient monitors is configured to monitor an individualpatient and provide alarm signals to one or more of the remote patientmonitors.
 13. A patient monitoring system, comprising: a main patientmonitor configured to receive and collect one or more patientphysiological parameters of a patient, and to provide an alarm inresponse, at least in part, to an alarm trigger, the alarm triggerincluding a determination that at least one of the collected patientphysiological parameters has reached a predetermined value; and a remotepatient monitor having an alarm reset configured to terminate the alarm,the remote patient monitor being configured to be carried by acaregiver, and further configured to receive a signal from the mainpatient monitor in response to the alarm and to transmit an indicationabout the alarm trigger, the indication comprising a request by thecaregiver for additional help.
 14. The patient monitoring system ofclaim 13, wherein the remote patient monitor is further configured to,in response to the signal from the main patient monitor, commence anaction selected from a group consisting of vibration output, visualoutput, and auditory output.
 15. The patient monitoring system of claim14, wherein the remote monitor is configured to vary an intensity of thecommenced action, the intensity of the commenced action being indicativeof a risk to the patient.
 16. The patient monitoring system of claim 13,wherein the main patient monitor is a plurality of different mainpatient monitors, and wherein each main patient monitor of the pluralityof different main patient monitors is configured to monitor anindividual patient and provide alarm signals to one or more of theremote patient monitors.
 17. A patient monitoring system, comprising: amain patient monitor configured to receive and collect one or morepatient physiological parameters of a patient, and to provide an alarmin response, at least in part, to an alarm trigger, the alarm triggerincluding a determination that at least one of the collected patientphysiological parameters has reached a predetermined value; and a remotepatient monitor having an alarm reset configured to terminate the alarm,the remote patient monitor being configured to be carried by acaregiver, and further configured to receive a signal from the mainpatient monitor in response to the alarm and to transmit an indicationabout the alarm trigger, the indication comprising a message aboutresolution of the alarm trigger.
 18. The patient monitoring system ofclaim 17, wherein the remote patient monitor is further configured to,in response to the signal from the main patient monitor, commence anaction selected from a group consisting of vibration output, visualoutput, and auditory output.
 19. The patient monitoring system of claim18, wherein the remote monitor is configured to vary an intensity of thecommenced action, the intensity of the commenced action being indicativeof a risk to the patient.
 20. The patient monitoring system of claim 17,wherein the main patient monitor is a plurality of different mainpatient monitors, and wherein each main patient monitor of the pluralityof different main patient monitors is configured to monitor anindividual patient and provide alarm signals to one or more of theremote patient monitors.